


No trust! Liar!

by ShadowsintheClouds



Series: Short Marvel Fics and gifts [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Sort Of, Steve Rogers Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 13:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19427320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsintheClouds/pseuds/ShadowsintheClouds
Summary: Why Steve decided to stay.





	No trust! Liar!

**Author's Note:**

> A little Endgame Stony fix-it. No shade to Pepper, I love her to bits. But I needed drama and a reason for Steve to stay. So with that said, enjoy! 

_No trust! Liar!_

Those words had haunted Steve the moment Tony uttered them. They followed him into his dreams and Steve found he couldn’t sleep. Ever since Carol had rescued Tony from space and Thor had killed Thanos at the Garden, life just hadn’t been good. Steve was the one to break it to Tony that they had failed and Thanos destroyed the stones. That was the first time Steve had ever seen Tony cry. He just clung to Pepper and cried. Steve couldn’t think of any way to comfort the man.

He’d heard from Rhodey about Peter Parker. The pain in Tony’s eyes that day made more sense now. Tony hadn’t just lost a kid he mentored. He’d lost the boy he’d thought of as a son, and Steve had just played it off with the whole “we all lost” thing. God did Steve want to fix his mistakes. He just wanted to make it better. He knew he couldn’t.

The next five years weren’t much better. Sure, there were some good moments, like Tony and Pepper’s wedding. Steve remembered that day vividly. It was the first good thing to happen to them since the snap. Tony was looking a bit healthier then he had been and Pepper looked radiant in her wedding dress, baby bump on display and everything. Steve stuck to the back of everything. He still felt absolutely horrible about how he’d treated Tony in the past. He didn’t want to ruin Tony’s special day with his stupidity.

A few months later, Steve, as well as the other remaining Avengers, received an email from Tony. Pepper had given birth to a tiny little girl they named Morgan. Of course, Rhodey, Nebula, and Natasha were there in seconds to go visit the couple and their new baby. Steve didn’t go. He still felt too guilty.

Five years was a long time for Steve to dwell on his past actions. There were some nights where he just kept replaying old conversations in his head. _No trust! Liar!_ It cut Steve deep. He should have trusted Tony’s judgement. He’d been right after all. He should have just told Tony the truth. He should have tried harder, and now half the universe were just ashes in the air.

Steve started a support group for others affected by the snap. They met once a week in an old church basement in Brooklyn. It helped a bit and the people who attended were happy to have others to talk to. Steve tried his best to give them all hope, even though he was running out of hope himself.

In five years, Steve had time to also look at his own feelings. He felt guilt over everything that had gone wrong between him and Tony. He felt anger over Thanos and all the good people that had been taken away because of him. And, after much soul searching, Steve realized he felt love. Somewhere along the line, Steve had fallen in love with Tony. It was probably before Ultron and he hadn’t realized it. But Tony was happily married and had a kid. He wasn’t going to ruin Tony’s happiness.

But that ended up happening anyway.

When Scott Lang showed up at the compound almost exactly five years after the snap with time travel theories that could allow them to bring everyone back, Steve almost thought it was too good to be true. But, it almost seemed like it could work, and Steve knew exactly who could help them. 

When Steve, Natasha, and Scott pulled up to Tony’s cabin, Steve got his first look into the life Tony had forged for himself over the past five years. Morgan was absolutely adorable and Tony looked healthier than he ever had. Fatherhood had been kind to Tony and Steve felt horrible for pulling him into this, but they needed his help.

Tony said that time travel was impossible. That this whole thing was a pipe dream. He was scared. Steve understood why. Tony had a lot on the line. Despite all that, Tony invited them all in for some lunch. Steve declined even though he wanted to stay. The guilt he was feeling was pounding on his skull and eating away at his heart. He couldn’t stay.

So, Steve and the others went to Bruce for help. In a week they had their first test runs of the time machine. It didn’t work well. It was discouraging and Steve was ready to throw in the towel. He went outside to get some air when the all familiar sound of screeching wheels pulled up to the compound. Turns out that Tony was able to make time travel work. This was a good thing. Now they just had to get the team back together. Tony gave Steve back his shield, and Steve vowed to keep Tony safe during this whole endeavour. He deserved to make it back safe to his wife and daughter. It was the least Steve could do even though his heart longed to go home with him when this was all over.

A week later they had confirmation that the time machine worked. A week after that they had the location and dates to get all of the stones they needed. In that week it sort of felt like everything was back to the way it had been before life went to shit. They made jokes around the table. They shared meals together. Pepper brought Morgan down a few times to visit. Everyone loved Morgan. Even the normally stoic Nebula was fond of her. But then again, she and Tony had gotten close while dying in space so it made sense that she knew Morgan a little better than some of the others.

The day of the Time Heist started out like a normal day. They all ate breakfast together and got everything ready. But that was when the normalcy ended. They all suited up and mostly did their own thing in silence until it was time to depart. The anxiety in the room was thick. The whole time, Steve couldn’t help but glance at Tony. He could tell he was about a half-second away from having a panic attack and Steve desperately wanted to help. He just didn’t know how.

When it was time to depart on their quest to fix what was done, everyone walked up onto the Quantum Tunnel with hope. Hope that this would all get fixed and life would get better. No more mourning. No more sleepless nights and missing children. No more pain over Thanos. It was time, and they knew it had to be done right. 

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams; you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, that doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're going to win. Whatever it takes. Good luck.”

The Quantum Tunnel fired up and they all began to traverse the Quantum Realm to their destinations. The whole time Steve kept his eyes on Tony. Keeping him alive was his goal other than getting the stones. When they arrived it was go time right away. Bruce headed off to the Sanctum and himself, Tony, and Scott headed off to the old tower to survey the situation at hand.

“Mr. Rogers, I almost forgot, that suit did nothing for your ass.”

“Nobody asked you to look, Tony.” Snarked back Steve but deep down he couldn’t help but blush over the fact that Tony was ogling his ass. 

The New York heist should have been easy. But, as things tended to go, it really wasn’t. Steve had to utter a phrase he never ever wanted to say again to get the sceptre away from HYDRA and he had to kick his own ass when his past self decided to start a fight. That wasn’t fun.

It also wasn’t fun learning that Tony and Scott had lost the Tesseract because Tony had gotten hit in the head by an angry Hulk. He looked unharmed, but Steve knew Tony was good at hiding his pain. He’d have to check him over once they got back home to the compound.

It turned out that all hope wasn’t lost on getting the Space Stone. Tony knew where they could get the stone and more Pym Particles. It was perfect. So, Steve gave Scott the sceptre and Tony gave him the coordinates. 

“Do you trust me?”

“I do.” Steve would never make the mistake of not trusting Tony ever again.

1970 was a weird year. Sure, Steve had seen it in movies and read about it, but the fashion of the time left much to be desired. Although seeing Tony in a nice SHIELD issue suit made his heart flutter. Getting into SHIELD was surprisingly easy. Tricking Hank Pym away from his office was even easier. It was actually really fun. But even so, things wanted to go wrong. Security was on to them and Steve had to duck into an office to get away and hide.

But it wasn’t just any old office he’d stumbled into. It belonged to none other than he lost love, Peggy Carter. Seeing her, after all those years, it was amazing. She looked good. She looked happy. She was doing what she loved and changing the world. Steve wanted so desperately to stay with her. To get over Tony and find his own happiness. But he had work to do. The future was counting on him and he couldn’t let trillions of lives down for his own gain. Maybe he could come back when this was all over. 

Steve eventually made it outside to where he’d agreed to meet Tony. He hadn’t expected the man to be talking to his own father. Seeing the scene made Steve’s guilt resurface. He had had no right to keep the truth about his parent's death from Tony. He’d lied. And instead of trying to calm Tony down after he’d found out, he’d fought him in a blind rage. It wasn’t right.

Steve was going to make it right again. Whatever it takes. 

Arriving back at the compound with all the stones felt amazing. What was amazing was learning that Nat wasn’t coming home. It ate at all their hearts. Natasha was their friend. She deserved a better ending. She deserved to stay with them, her family. It wasn’t fair.

They didn’t have too much time to grieve. They had a snap to undo. Bruce was the one to use the gauntlet and undo all the damage that was done. It didn’t take them very long to see that it had worked. There were birds outside and Clint had gotten a call from his wife.

But that victory was short-lived.

Thanos had somehow gotten through the Quantum Tunnel and had blasted the compound to pieces. From there it was a fight for their lives. Steve, Tony, and Thor went up against the titan while the others grappled with the rubble. It was a tough fight and one they were rapidly losing. When Thanos knocked Tony down, Steve lost it. As Thor was grappling with Thanos, Steve used the worthiness he knew he possessed to summon Thor’s hammer to save them.

The fight just escalated from there. Wong and Strange had portalled in all their returned friends as well as fighters from all over the galaxy who had a vendetta against Thanos. Now they were evenly matched. It was now or never. They had to stop Thanos from getting the gauntlet.

The fight was pure chaos. Although, there were some good bits. Steve got to fight side by side with Bucky again. That was nice. And, Steve couldn’t help but smile as he saw Tony reunite with Peter in a crushing hug. He looked so tired. Steve just wanted to end the fight so they could all rest. Tony especially. He deserved to rest.

Steve was in command of the whole situation. He was shouting orders and making sure that the troops were doing alright. He fought side by side with friends and strangers alike. Although, anyone who wanted Thanos dead was a friend at this point.

They worked hard to get the gauntlet to Scott’s Ant-Van, but it was difficult. Once Thanos started raining down fire it almost seemed like everything was lost. Steve just hoped that he could catch a glimpse of Tony before he inevitably died.

Thank fuck for Carol Danvers. She took out Thanos’ ship, and along with all the other completely badass women they knew, started to take the gauntlet to Scott. And she almost had it too, but Thanos was faster. Himself, Carol, and Tony went up against Thanos one last time in an effort to stop him. They weren’t enough.

But Pepper was.

She came out of nowhere and stole the stones from Thanos and used them herself. The look of panic on Tony’s face as he saw his wife snap her fingers and erase Thanos and his army could only be described as pure terror.

“Pep. Pepper. Honey! Hey Pep, you’re alight. It’s alright.” Panicked Tony as he raced to her side. Rhodey, Peter, and Steve were close behind. Nobody knew what to do. They knew what kind of power the stones held and they knew her prognosis was grim.

“FRIDAY?” sobbed out Tony as he held Pepper’s hand in his.

“Life signs are failing boss.” 

“Don’t worry Tony. It’s gonna… be ok.” Sighed out Pepper and Tony just held her close. 

As the arc reactor in her suit went out, Tony let out an almost inhuman scream of anguish as his wife died in his arms. It was heartbreaking. Rhodey and Steve were the ones to gently pull Tony away while Peter crawled in for a hug. Nobody really knew how long they all sat there in the dirt, but when T’Challa and Strange showed up to check on them and move Pepper away, it was already dark out. 

“It should have been me! It should have been me!” came Tony’s frantic whispers as he was lead away to get checked over. Nobody had the heart to argue with him.

Strange made a portal so that Tony could return to his cabin. Happy was there waiting for new while Morgan slept upstairs in her room. The second he was Tony’s face he knew that the worst had happened. Rhodey helped Tony up the stairs to tell Morgan that her mommy wasn’t going to come home. Happy and Steve helped Peter to call his aunt to let her know that he was ok and safe with Tony.

The sound of Morgan screaming and Tony trying desperately not to cry broke through the silence of the room. It was heartbreaking. Steve wanted so badly to just pull Tony and Morgan into his arms and comfort him, but he knew it wasn’t his place.

Three days later was Pepper’s funeral. Everyone was dressed in black and holding back tears. Tony kept Morgan close to him the entire time people were speaking. Peter was right at his side as well. Tony wasn’t letting his kids out of his sight anytime soon.

After the proceedings, people milled around and gave Tony and his family their condolences. Steve held himself back even though he wanted nothing more than to go and hug Tony. After a while, Steve noticed Tony sitting by himself on the dock outside the house. Nobody else was around and Steve knew he wasn’t about to leave Tony on his own when he was hurting. He’d made that mistake before. 

“Morgan and Peter are with Happy. He offered to get them some food so I could have a moment.” Rasped out Tony as Steve walked over and sat down next to him.

“I’m sorry about Pepper, Tony.” Tony just nodded and lent on Steve for support. Steve ended up putting his arm around Tony in comfort.

“I don’t know how I’m going to raise Morgan without her.”

“I know it’s tough Tony. But remember, you’re not alone. You’ve got Rhodey and Happy and Peter to help out. Hell, I’ll even be here if you want me. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

Tony just nodded and allowed Steve to hug him. The bridge between them may not be fully mended, but it was getting there. 

A week after Pepper’s funeral, Bruce and Scott had managed to make a new Quantum Tunnel so Steve could return the stones to their places in the timeline. The day before, Steve had talked to Bucky about the possibility of maybe staying in the past with Peggy. Bucky understood. He really did. But the look of pain on his face hurt Steve. Between him and Tony, Steve didn’t really know what to do.

Returning the stones was mostly easy. He didn’t like being chased around Asgard when returning the Reality Stone, nor did he like going to Vormir and seeing Red Skull. Although, he did get to say goodbye to Natasha. When he replaced the stone he placed a few tokens the team had given him next to Natasha. It wasn’t the burial they wanted, but it was better than nothing.

When Steve went to return the Space Stone, he once again found himself in Peggy Carter’s office. He could just go and talk to her. He could live the life he really wanted to with her. He could live in love and be happy and secure.

But that wasn’t really the life he wanted anymore.

His thoughts wandered to life back home. Tony and his kids needed him. Bucky and Sam needed him. He was needed. It felt good to be needed and loved. Sure, he could live the life he’d always wanted with Peggy, but he’d been building a life back home. He didn’t want to give all that hard work up.

So, Steve decided to stay in the future.

Bucky looked surprised when Steve returned. Steve understood. He’d been so sure he was going to stay with Peggy. But she lived her life. It was time for Steve to live his. 

“I thought you were going to stay with Agent Carter?” asked Bucky.

“I thought so too. But there’s still work I have to do. I have people who need me here and I don’t intend to leave them to suffer alone.” Bucky nodded in understanding. He knew exactly who Steve was talking about. 

“So what now?” asked Sam.

“Well, I can tell you one thing. I’m going to step down as Captain America. I want to rest. Sam, the shield is yours once it’s repaired.” Smiled Steve and Sam looked shocked.

“Are you sure Steve?” Steve just smiled and nodded. He was sure. Sam still wanted to fight. He was the perfect man for the job.

A day later, Steve found himself back at Tony’s cabin. He wanted to see if Tony needed any help. Rhodey couldn’t be there because he got called in by the government to explain what had happened and Steve knew that Tony shouldn’t be alone. So, Steve walked up and knocked on the door. 

“Daddy! Someone’s at the door!” came a shout from Morgan and Steve smiled a bit.

A moment later, Tony opened the door and looked at Steve in surprise. Steve took a second to take stock of Tony appearance. He looked tired and a bit thinner then he had been a few weeks ago. He also looked shorter. But then again, Tony wasn’t currently wearing any shoes. Steve had forgotten how short Tony was when he wasn’t wearing lifts.

“What can I do for you Cap?” asked Tony tiredly. 

“I just wanted to check in and maybe talk for a bit. I have a couple of stories to share from when I returned the stones.” Replied Steve. Tony motioned for him to come in and Steve gladly took it. 

“Can I offer you a drink?” asked Tony and Steve nodded.

“What have you got?” asked Steve as Tony lead him into the kitchen.

“I’ve got apple juice and coffee.”

“Nothing stronger?”

“I’ve been sober for 7 years. I’m not giving that up.”

Steve just nodded. He understood and Tony should be proud of his sobriety. The two ended up talking while Morgan built with Lego at the table. It was kind of nice. They shared jokes and stories. Tony brought up how difficult it was keeping track of preschooler and a teenager at the same time. That was when Steve offered to help babysit the kids so Tony could get work done. Tony would have been a fool to decline. So, twice a week, Steve came over to watch Morgan so Tony and Peter could work in the lab on things for SI. Tony was still CTO but he’d passed the CEO position to someone he trusted on the Board of Directors.

After a few months, twice a week turned into almost every day as Morgan started school. Tony cried that day. With Steve being over everyday, Tony eventually just asked Steve to move in. He practically lived there anyway. Steve said yes and he took a day to move the few things he had into the guest room. From there, Steve became a staple in the Stark’s lives. He was there when Morgan learned to ride without training wheels. He was there when Peter graduated. He was there when Tony was feeling down and just needed company. 

What was nice was that the two of them had made up for their past mistakes. The bridge had been mended and life continued on. Sam lead on the New Avengers along with Bucky so neither of them had to worry about the fate of the world. Just the fate of a certain crime-fighting spider who couldn’t seem to keep out of trouble.

Around when Morgan turned 7, Tony and Steve started spending a little bit more time together. They went out to get coffee after Tony got out of meetings. They’d go get lunch while Morgan was at school. They just got closer and closer. Steve could tell that Tony was a bit conflicted about that. He’d always love Pepper and he didn’t want to move on and just forget her. Steve understood, so they took things slow. 

It was a few months later that Steve decided to take the plunge. He loved Tony. He loved the kids. He was happy, and he could tell that Tony was happy as well. Tony smiled more. He laughed more. Everyone could tell that things were getting better. And it was time to take things on together.

“Do you trust me Tony?” whispered Steve as he placed a hand on Tony’s waist as they stood together one night in front of the fireplace. 

“I trust you, Steve. I trust you.”

And Steve leant in and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my other works! Comments are appreciated! See you around. -Shadows


End file.
